Thank You, Lila
by StarvingWriterMaeve
Summary: Helga smiled, "Thank you, Lila, for being a pain in the ass."


**A/N: Today at the mall I bought a Hey Arnold! shirt! It's green and says, "Move it Football Head!" with a picture of Arnold's face. I'm so excited about it:)**

**Anyway, this may not be my best one shot. The idea made more sense in my head, I guess. Oh, well. Enjoy it, I hope.**

**Thank You, Lila**

Lila giggled innocently, staring at Helga's reddened face. "You still hate me, right?" she asked between laughs. Lila's laughs were soon mixed in with others, but Helga kept her eyes downcast. She just let the laughter wash over her, letting it boil her blood, but she said nothing.

Phoebe remained frozen, unsure if she should run away from Helga or hug Lila. Helga was still slightly-frozen at the moment. Phoebe wanted to laugh, but she knew it was rude. She remained silent, staring at the spot on the street in front of them.

Helga eventually released a few dry laughs, "I still hate you." The three began walking towards home.

In the years since fourth grade, Lila and Helga had actually become close friends. They would continually joke about Helga's past feelings of hate for Lila, always playing it off with laughs.

But today it actually seemed like Helga meant it. Or, it could've just been from her tone of voice. Phoebe knew that Helga would _never _hate Lila after what she had just done for her.

It all started just two hours ago, in the cafeteria. The three sat down at a table and began talking. Helga suddenly zoned out, staring across the room at a certain boy.

"Oh, please, don't tell me you're still crazy about him," Lila rolled her eyes.

In fourth grade, Helga had told Lila about her crush on Arnold. Helga had done it in order to get the part of Juliet in their schools' production of Romeo & Juliet, so she could kiss him. It was their first kiss.

"Alright, I won't," Helga nodded at her best friend, "Phoebe, tell her."

"She still loves him, alright," Phoebe laughed. Lila then redirected the girls attention to him. He was sitting with Gerald, Phoebe's long-time boyfriend, deep in conversation about something.

"Wonder what they're talking about," Phoebe mused as she watched Helga's face soften.

Lila bit into her sandwich, "I bet they're talking about Helga's most recent prank."

"Probably," Helga agreed before turning her attention back to her questionable cafeteria food.

"I mean, you spring loaded his locker door!"

Helga laughed, "Yeah, I know."

"He got hit in the face and the door broke off. You've been torturing him for years. Don't you think he's suffered enough?"

Phoebe only nodded, wondering what Lila was planning. She had given up addressing Helga's anger issues years ago.

"Don't you think maybe you should show him some kindness? Or something other than anger?"

Helga laughed. "The day that happens is the day Brainy stops wheezing."

"I think she may be onto something, Helga," Phoebe interjected. Helga rolled her eyes.

"I think you're just scared."

Helga dropped her plastic fork and stared at Lila next to her. "What did you just say?"

"You're scared."

Although it was completely true, Helga denied it. "I am so not scared of being nice to him."

"That's good," Lila smirked, "but I think you're even more afraid of being with him."

"What?"

"You're afraid of dating him."

"That doesn't make any sense," Helga laughed.

"No, it does. It makes perfect sense. You're afraid to be with him because you love him too much. So you continue to act mean to him to keep him away. But deep down inside you want to be with him, you're just _chicken_."

"What the hell are you talking about?. . .When did you become a psychologist?"

Phoebe simply kept her attention focused on her lunch. She refused to become involved in this little fight, even though she had a hunch of where Lila would take this.

"It just makes sense, Helga. You're afraid."

"Stop saying that!" Helga yelled. "I am not afraid!"

Lila smirked, "If you're so brave, why don't you go over there and kiss him?"

Helga froze. "Excuse me?" Phoebe covered her open mouth, forcing her jaw to close as well.

"Prove to me that you're not afraid. Go over there and kiss him."

Helga was about to respond with a very malicious insult, but the lunch bell cut her off. Helga rose to her feet and bolted out of the lunchroom before anyone could even blink.

"You're crazy, Lila!"

Lila laughed, "Am I, Phoebe? Or am I just a genius?"

Fifteen minutes ago, when the final bell rang, Lila made sure she stopped Helga from fleeing school property. Lila knew Helga would run and lock herself up for the weekend, not coming out to avoid being confronted.

"I believe the dare is still in effect," Lila smirked.

"I believe that you'll end up with a black eye if you don't let me go," Helga shot back.

"Come on, Helga. Don't be such a baby. Just one little kiss."

Helga resumed walking away. "No."

"You might as well do it to save your reputation. I _might _have let it slip to Rhonda after lunch."

Helga spun on her heel, screaming, "_You what?"_

Lila pretended to be deep in thought, as if she was trying to remember if she had told Rhonda or not."Yeah, she definitely heard about it. Which means everyone else has too."

"Oh, you're such a bitch!"

"So, it's true, then?" Rhonda appeared behind Helga.

Helga rolled her eyes, "What do you want, Princess?"

"I wanted to know if you'd weasel your way out of this dare or not. It is a little extreme, even for you."

Helga rolled her eyes again. "Nothing's too extreme for me."

"Perfect," Rhonda smiled, "because I told Arnold to wait."

"You did what?"

"You don't think I was going to miss this, do you? You two absolutely _hate _each other," she laughed, "I want to see if the universe will implode."

Helga shot a death glare towards Lila as Rhonda continued to laugh. "Helga, you can back out. You'd just be forever known as a chicken."

Helga bit her lip, "Okay, that's it!" She stormed forwards, anger controlling her body. Her natural reactions of fear - tight stomach, shaking hands and throbbing heart - only drove her forwards. She saw Arnold waiting by the side entrance to the school. "Football Head!"

Arnold and Gerald both turned to face her. Gerald stepped forwards, "Get out of here, Pataki!"

"Shut up, Geraldo!" Helga yelled before forcefully pulling Arnold's face to hers. It happened in a split second. They were kissing. They were _really _kissing. Arnold was so shocked that he simply stood there, unmoving, but kissing her back.

A crowd formed around them, once Rhonda called out to everyone who had been standing around. Lila and Phoebe were the first to arrive on the scene, Phoebe trying to calm Gerald down.

Three minutes ago they broke apart.

"Helga, what was_ that_?" Arnold panted.

The group of students went silent, waiting for her answer. Helga felt the heat rise to her cheeks, unable to speak. Arnold ignored them and pulled her close to him, hand resting on her lower back, and whispered, "Heat of the moment?" The rest of the students all looked at each other, confused.

Helga slowly nodded, eyes casting downwards as her cheeks continued to burn. She could clearly remember her dramatic love confession on the roof of Future Tech Industries, Inc. After Arnold and Gerald saved the neighborhood, Arnold offered Helga the chance to take back her declaration of love. She accepted and the two agreed that it was heat of the moment.

The other students started laughing at her. She wanted to yell at them all, but the fact that Arnold was touching her kept her calm.

"Helga?"

"What, Football Head?"

He smiled, "I'll pick you up at seven tonight. Is that okay?"

Helga tried to keep her face straight while her heart began beating even harder. "Y-Yeah," she smiled, "okay."

Gerald then grabbed Arnold by the collar and dragged him away, muttering a few choice words.

Lila began to laugh again as the girls continued walking home.

"I still hate you," Helga repeated.

"Sure," Lila replied skeptically.

Phoebe smiled, "Looks like you have a date tonight."

Helga smiled too, following Lila and Phoebe as they continued down the sidewalk, "Thank you, Lila, for being a pain in the ass."


End file.
